Dear all,
I would like to know from your experience what would be the best method for preservation of root samples. My objective is to determine cell size and fungal colonization.
I have read about FAA (formaldehyde-alcohol-acetic acid) or 70% ethanol. Would you recommend any of these two ?
And for how long I could store the roots without damaging the tissues ?
Best wishes!
Dear Danilo
Dr. Ewald Sieverding in a detailed and exhaustive manual of methods published in 1983 at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia proposes to preserve the roots in FAA or in a mixture of acetic acid with alcohol in a ratio of 1: 3. To quantify colonization inside the roots, he also proposes to dry the soil in the sun and then store the roots to prevent them from decomposing, and as a personal experience, he pointed out that the roots did not suffer any damage when stored with the semi-moist soil in cold room at 10 oC for 1 month. We have allowed drying the soil at room temperature well spread on newspaper mixed with the roots and we have not noticed any problem once they have dried and we have stained them with blue trypan or another colorant, best wishes, Eduardo
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